Flight International — 22 August — 4 September 2017

DEFENCE

18 | Flight International | 22 August-4 September 2017 flightglobal.com

A

ustralia has joined Germany

in grounding its fleet of Air-

bus Helicopters Tiger attack

rotor craft in the wake of a fatal

crash in Mali in which two crew

members were killed.

Investigations are ongoing into

the late July accident involving a

German army-operated example,

which came down in unex-

plained circumstances about

44nm (82km) northeast of Gao.

Berlin immediately withdrew

its Tigers from service, although

four aircraft remaining in Mali –

deployed as part of a multi-

national fight against an Islamic

insurgency – can perform mis-

sions in emergency situations, its

defence ministry says.

On 14 August Australia said it

would cease flying its Tiger

armed reconnaissance helicop-

ters “until further information be-

comes available”.

Spain is also thought to have

suspended flights involving its

Tiger inventory. Its defence min-

istry says: “The army will follow

the technical recommendations

of the manufacturer once it con-

ducts the necessary investiga-

tions and checks to find out what

could have caused the accident.”

France continues to fly its Ti-

gers in Mali, but most domestic

training was already on hold be-

cause of the summer holidays.

So far, little detail has been re-

leased about the circumstances of

the crash, but statements from the

German defence ministry indi-

cate that the Tiger lost its main

rotor blades after entering into a

sudden steep descent. It hit the

ground about 10s later, and the

wreckage was consumed by a

post-impact fire.

Crash investigators have recov-

ered the helicopter’s flight-data

recorders, but both are heavily

damaged and may be unable to

be accessed.

With Airbus Helicopters not

directly participating in the acci-

dent probe, it was required, as

part of its contract with the na-

tions, to issue a notice advising

that the Tiger is unsafe, without

being able to offer any related

guidance. This was released

shortly after the crash and updat-

ed on 10 August.

“Airbus Helicopters declares

[an] UNSAFE condition for all

Tiger versions. AH can neither

identify the part, the failure of

which would lead to the acci-

dent, nor the origin of the failure

(design, manufacturing, mainte-

nance). Consequently, AH is not

in the position to propose a pro-

tective measure,” the warning

notice says. ■

B

ulgaria’s government has

postponed taking a final deci-

sion on the selection of a new-

generation fighter until later this

year, while the nation also con-

siders significant investments in

the maintenance of its RAC MiG-

29 and Sukhoi Su-25 fleets.

In late June, Bulgaria’s newly

elected parliament decided to es-

tablish an investigation board to

review all aspects of the fighter

tender. This followed the an-

nouncement by a temporary gov-

ernment in late April that the

Saab Gripen C/D was the pre-

ferred candidate in the country’s

new combat aircraft competition.

The Swedish bid, using new-

build aircraft, was ranked ahead

of proposals with Tranche

1-standard Eurofighter Typhoons

from Italy, and used Lockheed

Martin F-16s promoted by the

USA and Portugal. The com-

bined US/Portuguese offer was

disqualified, reportedly after fail-

ing to meet several key require-

ments, including a deferred pay-

ment scheme.

Sofia had requested informa-

tion on an eight-aircraft deal to be

completed under a government-

to-government agreement, with

deliveries to occur by 2020. The

deal has an allocated budget of

€767 million ($900 million). The

plan calls for another eight of the

same type to be purchased be-

tween 2022 and 2023.

Meanwhile, defence minister

Krasimir Karakachanov has

called for the air force’s current

fighters and strike aircraft to re-

ceive funding to maintain their

airworthiness. The service has 15

MiG-29s and 14 Su-25s, but he

says that in early August only

eight and four, respectively, were

in a serviceable condition.

Karakachanov says he has held

talks with representatives of RAC

MiG about the options for main-

taining the MiG-29 fleet. ■

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